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MACEO PINKARD MUSIC FESTIVALhonorsBluefieldBy BILL ARCHERof the Daily Telegraph staffLUEFIELD - The city’shot summer nights will beultra-cool June 22-27 as Bluefield State College and Main Street Bluefield combine forces to present the first ever “Maceo Pinkard Music Festival.”An array of artists will perform at the festival, designed to honor one of the world's best-known composers, Bluefield native and BSC student Maceo Pinkard. The festival is being funded through a Title III Program Grant from BSC.“We have four performers whowilt be entertaining at four separate events associated with the festival,” Joe Bundy, director of Bluefield’s Afro-Appalachian Performance Company said. “Each performer will tie their shows in with the connection to Maceo Pinkard.”Pinkard was bom in Bluefield on June 27,1897. He completed his formal education at the Bluefield Colored Institute (now Bluefield State College). In 1914, Pinkard toured the Midwest with nis own orchestra. In 1919, he moved to New York City, where he became one of the most famous composers of the “Harlem Renaissance” movement.Among the American standards Pinkard composed are “Mammy,” the song made famous by A1 Jolsen, “Sweet Georgia Brown,” the themeAmong the Americanstandards Maceo Pinkard composed are ‘Mammy,’ ‘Sweet Georgia Brown,’ ‘Give Me A Little Kiss, Will Ya Huh?’ and ‘Them There Eyes.’song for the Harlem Glob Trotters, “Give Me A Little Kiss, Will Ya Huh?” “Them There Eyes,” and scores of others, numbering more than 200.“Bill Archer and Karl Miller are going to kick things off with a show at the Coal City Auditorium from on Tuesday,June 22,” Bundy said. “They’vebeen working on a tribute show to several nationally and inter-nationally-known artists that have connections to Bluefield and the southern West Virginia coalfields.”Bundy said that Archer and Miller have created their own arrangements of several songs that are rooted in the region. Their show will include Pinkard’s “Sweet Georgia Brown,” and a version of “Your Feet’s Too Big,” written by another Bluefield native, Bobby Benson, the original keyboard artist of the Ink Spots. “Your Feet’s Too Big” was covered by the Ink Spots, but made famous by Fats Waller.The Archer-Miller combo also will perform “Satin Doll,” a song by Duke Ellington, perhaps the greatest of all the big band leaders. Ellington was aclose personal friend of Bluefield dentist Dr. Ernie Martin and often got his hair cut just a couple doors up the street from the Auditorium at Haden’s Barber Shop. Ellington also joined the fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, in Bluefield.“Bill and Karl have worked up a real hot version of ‘Salt Pork, West Virginia,” Bundy said.“The great jazz performer,Louie Jordan, wrote ‘Salt Pork,’ about a run-in with the law he had down here in the 1940s.” Another group with Bluefieldroots, the Chicago-based Flamingos, will be recognized when Archer and Miller perform “1 Only Have Eyes ForYou.”“Jacob and Zeke Carey lived next door to my daddy on Davidson Street,” Bundy said. “They were Seventh Day Adventists. All of the boys in the family had names taken from the Bible. They had two older brothers named Paul and Daniel.”Bundy said that Archer and Miller also are covering “Lean On Me,” made famous by Slab Fork, Raleigh County native,Bill Withers and “Rockin’ Roll Baby,” by the Stylistics that has the chorus line: “He was born in a theater in Bluefield, West Virginia.” The concert at Coal City, like all of the Pinkard Festival activities, is 6*66 to everyone. Set-ups will be made available for visitors choosing toBYOB.On Thursday, June 24, theincomparable Nat Reese will be in concert at Chicory Square from 7 to 9 p.m., as this season’s first evening concert in the long-running season. Reese, who calls Princeton home, is ranked among the top ten blues singers/guitarists in the world.His distinctive soulful style has been a trademark through the years. Although well-known, perhaps even legendary outside southern West Virginia, local audiences rarely get the opportunity to see Reese at work.On Friday from 7 to 9 p.m., the scene will shift to Bluefield State College’s Basic Science Auditorium for the jazz-stylingsof acclaimed vocalist, EstelWhitehead.“Stel creates a great rapport with the audience,” Bundy said. “She’s been to Bluefield before and she will be coming down with her piano accompanist. I’m sure people will love this concert.”Bundy and the Bluefield-based Afro-Appalachian Performance Company will close out the festival Sunday, June 27, with a show from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Coal City Auditorium. The entire show will be a tribute to the work of Maceo Pinkard.“A few years ago, we did ‘In the Pink,’ a musical based on Pinkard’s life,” Bundy said. “While we’ll be doing some of the songs we did back then, this will be a totally different show.”Pinkard was inducted into the Song Writer’s Hall Of Fame in1983.
Newspaper Details
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Bluefield, West Virginia, US
Sat, Jun 12, 1999
Page 29
Full Page
Clipped by
Virginia T.
VA, USA 16 Mar 2023
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